Paying $14 for an Airport Beer? Colorado Might Just Make That Illegal.

What This Bill Actually Does

House Bill 26-1012 tackles two distinct pricing frustrations that Coloradans face every day: hidden markups on delivery apps and massive price hikes at venues where you have no other options. First, it updates the rules for delivery service platforms like DoorDash, UberEats, or Instacart. Last year, the legislature passed a law requiring these apps to clearly disclose all their mandatory fees. This new bill goes a step further by targeting the actual cost of the items. It requires these platforms (and any grocery store using them) to clearly display a side-by-side comparison of the on-app price and the in-store price for a good. This means before you hit checkout, you will see precisely how much that box of cereal or restaurant meal has been marked up just for being listed on the app, separately from the delivery and service fees.

Second—and this is the heavy hitter—the bill creates broad protections against price gouging for what it calls a captive consumer. The legislation specifically defines these consumers as people stuck in locations where a seller has zero competitors. The bill explicitly lists these locations: airports, hospitals or emergency rooms, correctional facilities, indoor event venues with a capacity of 2,000 or more, and organized outdoor events (like festivals or county fairs) expecting over 2,000 attendees. If you are selling food, drinks, or other ancillary goods in these spaces, the rules of the game are about to completely change.

Under this proposal, if a vendor charges a captive consumer more than the average price for a comparable good sold elsewhere in that same county, they are presumed to be committing an unfair or deceptive trade practice under the Colorado Consumer Protection Act. If a consumer or the state files a complaint, the burden of proof shifts to the seller. The vendor can only avoid massive fines if they can successfully rebut the presumption by proving their pricing was not "unreasonably excessive." To help navigate this gray area, the bill grants the Attorney General the authority to write official rules defining exactly what constitutes an unreasonably excessive price in these locked-in environments.

What It Means for You

If you live in Colorado, this bill is laser-focused on your wallet, specifically in those moments when you feel most taken advantage of. We have all been there: you are at Denver International Airport waiting for a flight, or you are at Red Rocks Amphitheatre for a summer concert, and you are forced to pay $8 for a bottle of water or $15 for a standard burger. Because you cannot leave to shop around, you pay it. By legally designating you as a captive consumer, this bill attempts to tether those venue prices to the reality of the surrounding county. While you might still pay a slight premium, the days of a 300% markup on a slice of pizza could be over.

But this isn't just about recreation—it touches on vulnerable moments, too. If you are stuck in an emergency room with a sick family member, or if you have a loved one in a state correctional facility, the vendors operating the cafeterias and commissaries in those buildings will also be capped by these county-average pricing rules. On the delivery app side, your daily convenience ordering is about to get a lot more transparent. You will no longer have to guess if your favorite restaurant or grocery store is quietly padding the cost of your items to offset the app's commission. You will see the in-store price versus the on-app price right on your screen, allowing you to decide if the convenience is actually worth the true total cost.

Here is what you should do to stay ahead of this:

• Watch the calendar: This bill applies to conduct starting in August 2026, assuming it passes and isn't delayed by a ballot referendum. Don't expect cheaper stadium beers this summer.
• Reach out to your representative: If you have strong feelings about hidden delivery app markups or stadium pricing, contact the House Judiciary Committee members. This bill will face intense opposition from corporate venues, so consumer voices will heavily influence its survival.
• Start checking your receipts: Get in the habit of comparing app prices to store prices now so you understand exactly how much you are currently paying for convenience.

What It Means for Your Business

If you operate a business in Colorado’s hospitality, events, tech, or retail space, HB26-1012 is a massive compliance hurdle that requires immediate attention. For delivery service platforms and grocery stores, the technology lift required here is significant. You will need to build API integrations that pull real-time, location-specific in-store prices and display them alongside your on-app prices directly at the point of selection and on the final subtotal page. If your app relies on hiding item markups to maintain margins, you are going to face a reckoning with consumer psychology once those price gaps are front and center.

For food trucks, concessionaires, and venue operators, the "captive consumer" provisions are the ones to watch. If you secure a contract to sell hot dogs at a music festival expecting 2,500 people, or if you run a kiosk at a regional airport, your pricing strategy is now legally constrained. The bill creates a presumption that you are breaking the law if your prices exceed the "average price" for a comparable good in your county. Finding that county average is going to be incredibly difficult for proprietary or specialty items. If you get reported, you could face civil penalties of up to $20,000 per violation under the Colorado Consumer Protection Act unless you can prove your pricing wasn't unreasonably excessive—a vague standard that the Attorney General will eventually have to define.

Here is what you need to do THIS WEEK if you fall into these categories:

• Audit your event and venue pricing: If you operate in airports, hospitals, or large venues (2,000+ capacity), compare your current prices to standard street-level prices in your county. Calculate what a forced price reduction would do to your margins and your ability to pay venue commission fees.
• Prepare to testify: This bill is currently in the House Judiciary Committee. Trade associations representing restaurants, event promoters, and tech platforms need data on how difficult it is to calculate "average county prices" to present to lawmakers.
• Talk to your developers: If you run an e-commerce or delivery platform, ask your engineering team how long it would take to design a side-by-side price comparison feature in your user interface to comply with the proposed disclosure rules.

Follow the Money

The fiscal impact of this bill is fascinating because it directly cuts into state and local government revenues. Many state agencies—like the University of Colorado, Colorado State University, and the Colorado State Fair—rely on vendor fees and revenue-sharing agreements from the concessionaires that operate at their stadiums and events. If this bill forces those vendors to drop their prices to meet the county average, the state's cut drops right alongside them. According to the nonpartisan fiscal note, a hypothetical 10% drop in concession revenue would cost CU $900,000, CSU $250,000, and the State Fair $120,000 annually.

Beyond direct revenue sharing, the state and local governments will also take a hit on sales taxes. Even if cheaper prices lead to slightly more hot dogs or beers being sold, the overall gross sales volume at these massive venues will likely decrease, reducing the taxable base. On the flip side, the state could see a bump in revenue from civil penalties. Violations of the Colorado Consumer Protection Act carry fines of up to $20,000 per incident. However, enforcing this will require the Attorney General's office to dedicate resources to investigating exactly what an "average county price" is for a stadium beer, which will inevitably tie up state lawyers in complex, time-consuming disputes with corporate vendors.

Where This Bill Stands

House Bill 26-1012 was introduced in the House on January 14, 2026, and has been assigned to the House Judiciary Committee. Because it deals with consumer protection, civil penalties, and the Attorney General's authority, Judiciary is the standard first stop.

This bill faces an exceptionally steep uphill battle. While the delivery app transparency rules are a logical extension of previous legislation, the price-capping mechanism for event venues and airports is highly disruptive to existing multi-year vendor contracts and local government revenue streams. Expect a massive lobbying effort from the live entertainment industry, hospital associations, airport authorities, and universities who stand to lose millions in concession revenue. Lawmakers will have to weigh the undeniable populist appeal of cheaper stadium food against the very real administrative nightmare of enforcing county-wide average pricing. If it somehow survives the gauntlet, the law is slated to take effect in August 2026—unless opponents gather enough signatures to force it onto the November 2026 ballot for voters to decide.